Rail joint



Sept- 14, 1954 M. SLYDER 2,689,091

RAIL JOINT Filed Jan. l2, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l www ATTORNEYJ Sept. 14,1954 M, SLYDER 2,689,091

I RAIL JOINT Filed Jan. l2, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Jen'ilbJgdel:

ATTORNEYS.

Patented Sept. 14, 1954 UNITED STATES A'IENT OFFICE RAIL JOINT MerrillSlyder, Williamsport, Pa. Application January 12, 1951, Serial No.205,703 4 Claims. (Cl. 23S-219) The present invention relates toimprovements in rail joints, and more particularly to a joint which isdesigned to promote the safety of railroad operation.

It is an object of this invention to furnish a rail joint which Willprevent independent vertical movement between the ends of adjacent railsconnected in a longitudinal line as the wheels of the locomotive movethereover.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a joint as describedabove which will prevent independent lateral movement between theadjacent ends of said rails, thereby adding to safety of operation asthe locomotive wheels pass over the joint.

Another object of the invention is to design a joint which will reducerail batter and wearing on the rail ends which is now prevalent inrailroad operations. Also the joint is so fashioned to give a muchstronger joint than those now in use. p

Still another object of this invention is to provide a locking type ofjoint which can be applied to any size, shape or type of rail and itsassociated fish plates now in use with a minimum cost.

These and other advantages will become apparent from the followingdescription of the present invention illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Figure 1 is an elevation view of a preferred form of the invention,parts thereof being broken away and shown with other parts in crosssection;

Figure 2 is a plan view of the invention shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a front elevation view of the blocking assembly shown inFig. 1

Figure 4 is a side elevation view of Fig. 3;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the rails used in a second formof the invention;

Figure 6 is a front elevation view of the block assembly used in therail shown in Fig. 5;

Figure 7 is a side elevation view of Fig. 6;

Figure 8 is an elevation view of a third form of the invention, partsthereof being shown in section;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of one of the rails used in the form ofthe invention shown in Fig. 8;

Figure 10 is a perspective view of the block assembly used in the formof the invention shown in Fig. 8;

Figure 11 is a front elevation of the block assembly shown in Fig. 10.

Similar reference characters in the several figures indicate similarparts.

In the preferred modification of the invention, Figs. 1 4, I show a pairof rails I0 and I I. The ends of each of these rails are similar inconstruction and it is believed a detailed description of one end willsuiiice. Rail I@ has a base portion I2, a web I3 and a head I4. The railend is provided with a U-shaped slot I5 in head I 4, said slot beingvertically aligned with web I3, the latter having a out-away portion I6to furnish a shoulder Il adjacent base I2. Slot I5 has laterally spacedside walls I8 and I9, each wall tapering upwardly and inwardly from thelower end thereof.

When the rail ends are placed adjacent and in line with each other, slotI5 in each rail end and the cut-away portion I are in registeringrelation.

A metallic locking' block assembly 2@ constructed -of suitable materialis adapted to be positioned in said registered slots and cut-awayportions. The assembly is constructed in two parts and includes an upperpart 2I and a base part 22.

The upper part comprises a head portion including laterally spacedtapered sides 23 and 2li terminating at the upper end thereof in ahorizontal top surface 25. The taper extends the full height of the headand results in facing tapered sides. Side 26 is a continuation of side23 and is substantially vertical. On the opposite side of the upper parta vertical side portion 2l' continues downwardly from. side Zll to ashoulder 28. Side 29 continues from this shoulder and is taperedlaterally outwardly. The bottom surface of upper part 2| is of step-likeformation and includes a pair of spaced horizontal surfaces 38 and 3lconnected by a vertical surface 32.

The lower or base part 22 has upper surfaces 33, 34 and 35 complementarywith surfaces 3G, 32 and 3l, respectively, on part 2 I. Side 3S ispositioned to be in alignment with side 26 of the upper part and side 3lis adapted to be positioned laterally outwardly and parallel with side29 of the upper part. The bottom surface of the base member isrep-resented by the numeral 33. An aperture 39 is fashioned in the upperpart eX- tending from side 26 to side 28. This aperture is for thepurpose of accommodating a bolt for l securing the assembly to sh plate48.

The method of assembly is to first place the ends of adjacent rails inabutment and in longitudinal alignment. The upper part 2I of the lockingblock is then placed in the cut-away portions I of each rail end. Thepart is then lifted vertically until the tapered head is wedged againstthe sides of slot I5 on ea'ch rail end. Then the base portion 22 isinserted beneath the upper part and from one side thereof. It will benoted that the bottom 38 of the base portion is adapted to rest onshoulder I1 of each rail end. The top 25 of the block assembly bridgesthe space between rail ends allowing for expansion and contractionduring varying weather conditions.

The block assembly is then secured to an adjacent fish plate 4l! bymeans of a bolt 4I. Due to the looking effect between the upper andlower parts of the assembly the lower part is held firmly in place onshoulders I1 and against the fish plate. It will be seen that this is aquite simple method of assembly. Then sh plate 42 is secured to plate 4Uby a plurality of bolts and the' joint is ready for operation.

As the locomotive wheels approach the joint the wedging action of thehead of the block as sembly prevents lateral movement of one rail endrelative to the other rail end. Also the head cooperates with the baseportion and shoulders I1 to prevent independent vertical movementbetween independent rail ends. As stated above, the top of the headportion permits the wheels to roll thereover and provides a smooth entryfrom one rail to another. There is no battering of the ends of the railas in the conventional joint. This type of joint further providesgreater strength on curves when there is more of a tendency of the railsto move laterally.

In the second form of the invention shown in Figs. -'1 the rail ends areof somewhat different construction than the preferred embodiment. Herethe cut out portion, illustrated by the numeral 43, extends from ashoulder 44 in the base of the rail upwardly into the head I4. It willbe noted however, that the cutaway portion terminates at the upper endat 45 and therefore does not extend to the top of head I4.

The metallic locking block assembly in the second modification is thesame as that in the preferred embodiment with the exception that theformer does not contain a tapered head which extends into the head ofthe rail terminating at the top thereof. The assembly here shown (Figs.6-7) is illustrated generally by the numeral 51S and includes the upperpart 41 and the base part 48. The sides on one side of the assemblyillustrated by the numerals 49 and 5B are in substantial verticalalignment. The top of upper part 4'! is illustrated by the numeral 5 I.Opposite to these sides, sides 52, 53 and 54 are provided and are ofsimilar design to sides 21, 29 and 31 of the preferred embodiment. Anaperture 55 is positioned in the upper part 41 similar to aperture inpart 2 I The complementary surfaces 56, 51, 53, 59, t@ and 6I onassembly 46 are similar to surfaces 3B, 3|, 32, 33, 34 and 35 ofassembly 2i).

The method of assembly in the second modiiication is to position therails in abutting relation in longitudinal alignment and insert theupper part 41 into the cut-away portion of the two rails. The top 5I isadapted to abut the surface of each rail. Next the base part is placedin position beneath the upper part and then the assembly is bolted tothe fish plate as in the rst embodiment.

The third embodiment of the present invention illustrated in Figures8-11. The cut-out portion of the end of the rail forms a vertical wall62 terminating at its lower end in a horizontal shoulder 63 and at itsupper end in a horizontal surface 64.

The metallic block 65 which is adapted to be placed in the cut-outportion of the rail ends is in one single piece and is furnished withlateral walls 66 and 61 connected by side walls G8 and S9. A flange 10projects downwardly from wall 66 and is adapted to abut the side of theweb adjacent shoulder 63. The bottom 1I of the block is positioned torest on shoulder 53. A threaded bolt 12 is formed integral with theblock and extends perpendicularly from wall 61. A shoulder 13 is formedat the upper end of wall 66 to permit a portion of the fish plate to fitthereagainst. The top surface 14 of the block is adapted to t againstsurface 64 of the rail. Flange 1G is narrower than wall 66 associatedtherewith, the corners of the block being tapered to accommodate thearcuate corners of the cut-away portions of the rail.

The assembly of this block into the rail ends is simply to t the blockin the cut-away portions in the position described above. Then the iishplate next to bolt 12 is placed in position, bolt 12 extendingtherethrough. The two parts are locked together by means of a nut onbolt 12. Then the other fish plate is placed in position and bolted tothe rst-mentioned iish plate.

While I have shown and described a preferred form of my invention, itwill be understood that variations in details of form may be madewithout departure from the invention as dened in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A rail joint comprising a pair of rail ends having registeringcentrally disposed longitudinal slots in the heads and registeringcutaway portions in the web thereof, said slots in the heads beingtapered throughout their full length so as to produce facing taperedsides defining at least a part of said slots, a metallic block assemblyincluding a tapered upper part and a lower part, said upper part beinginserted in said registering slots and cut-away portions and being incontact with said heads along said tapered sides, said lower part beingpositioned beneath the upper part and substantially filling theremainder of the cutaway portions, a pair of fish plates of similardesign positioned on opposite sides of Said rail ends and securing saidends, and means securing said block assembly to one of said fish platesonly.

2. A rail joint comprising a pair of rail ends having registeringcentrally disposed longitudinal slots in the heads and registeringcut-away portions in the webs thereof, said slots in the heads beingtapered, a metallic block assembly including an upper part having atapered head adapted to t within said tapered slot and complementarytherewith, said upper part being secure-d by bolt and nut means to afish plate on one side of said rail ends, a lower part positioned belowsaid upper part, complementary means on said upper and lower partslocking said parts together, a second fish plate on the other side ofsaid rail ends, and means securing said fish plates together.

3. A rail joint comprising a pair of rail ends having registeringcentrally disposed longitudinal slots extending longitudinally of saidrail ends and registering cut-away portions in the webs thereof, saidslots being vertically tapered, a metallic block assembly including anupper part having a tapered head adapted to fit within said tapered slotand complementary therewith, said upper part being secured by bolt andnut means to a sh plate on one side of said rail ends, a lower partpositioned below said upper part, means for locking said upper and lowerparts together comprising vertically spaced horizontal surfaces formedon said upper part and cooperating complementary vertically spacedhorizontal surfaces formed on said lower part.

4. A rail joint comprising a pair of rail ends having registeringcentrally disposed longitudinal slots in the heads of said rail ends andregistering cut-away portions in the webs of said rail ends, saidcut-away portions being defined in part by a shoulder adjacent the baseportion of said rail ends, said shoulder being aligned longitudinallywith said rail, Said slots in the heads being tapered so as to producefacing tapered sides defining at least a part of said slots with thenarrow point of the taper being at the top of said rail ends, a blockassembly including a tapered upper part and a lower part, said upperpart being inserted in said registering slots and cut-away portions andbeing in contact with said slots along their tapered sides, said lowerpart being positioned beneath the upper part and substantially fillingthe cut-away portions and seating on said shoulder, a pair of fishplates positioned on opposite sides of said rails, means securing saidrail ends, sh plates and said upper and lower parts together includingcomplementary means on said upper and lower parts locking said partstogether.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 898,799 Stitzell Sept. 15, 1908 1,465,263 Glanzer Aug. 21,1923 2,079,533 Slyder May 4, 1937

